United Future Party: "Shameless Debt Bomb Budget... Must Be Completely Overhauled"

Choo Kyung-ho, Budget Committee Whip, "Shifting Debt Repayment Burden and Fiscal Responsibility to Future Generations"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] The United Future Party criticized the government's budget proposal for next year as a "shameless debt bomb" and called for a complete overhaul.

On the 2nd, Representative Chu Kyung-ho, the United Future Party's floor leader on the National Assembly's Budget and Accounts Special Committee, stated in a press release, "The government's announced budget proposal for next year, amounting to 555.8 trillion won, is, in short, an ultra-super expansion budget. It projects an annual management fiscal deficit of 109.7 trillion won and an increase in national debt of 139.8 trillion won, marking the largest debt bomb budget in history. It is a shameless budget that shifts all debt repayment burdens and fiscal soundness responsibilities onto the next government and future generations."

He added, "Despite COVID-19 still ongoing, the budget lacks realistic recognition as it focuses solely on government-led economic stimulus based on the assumption that the pandemic will end." Representative Chu insisted, "It must be completely overhauled to include measures for ordinary citizens to overcome COVID-19 and prevent closures of small business owners and micro-entrepreneurs."

He pointed out that the budget is based on overly optimistic economic growth forecasts for this year and next year. Chu said, "It was prepared based on the economic outlook from about three months ago, on June 1, maintaining optimistic growth rates of 0.1% for this year and 3.6% for next year. Considering recent forecasts of negative growth by the Bank of Korea and international organizations, there are concerns that fiscal conditions will worsen further."

He continued, "This government will be recorded as the first to open the era of 1,000 trillion won national debt in its final year in office. The national debt per capita will exceed 20 million won, and including public enterprises, the total national debt is expected to reach 2,500 trillion won, meaning the total debt per citizen will be about 50 million won," expressing his concerns.

Representative Chu stated, "The government and ruling party are highly likely to forcibly pass the budget on December 2, relying on numerical superiority while ignoring the people's suffering," and emphasized, "The United Future Party will expose all the problems of next year's budget to the public as soon as it is submitted, and will do its utmost to ensure that next year's budget focuses on livelihoods, helping socially vulnerable groups such as ordinary citizens and small business owners to overcome and recover from COVID-19."

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